The present invention relates to a method of feeding wrapper material in manufacturing machines.
The present invention finds application in machines for the manufacture of tobacco products, typically cigarettes, and relates in particular to a method by which a wrapper material consisting of two continuous strips joined face to face and positioned one relative to the other is fed to a machine unit; while reference is made specifically herein to the use of such a method in cigarette manufacturing machines, no limitation in general scope is implied.
A cigarette manufacturing machine of conventional type comprises a forming station appearing essentially as a beam, of which the function is to assemble and shape a continuous cigarette rod, or a plurality of such rods generated parallel one with another. The station affords an entry point where at least one ribbon of tobacco filler is dispensed onto a looped conveyor belt slidably supporting a strip of cigarette paper. The paper for each cigarette rod is advanced and at the same time forced by the conveyor belt to envelop the tobacco filler, thus fashioning a single wrapper around the tobacco and creating a continuous cigarette cylinder or rod, which will then be divided into single cigarettes by a cutting device.
The prior art, as reflected in EP 402 059, embraces cigarettes furnished with two skins of paper wrapped one over the other around the tobacco filler, which are designed to minimize the lateral flow of smoke through the cigarette.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method that will allow of fashioning cigarettes with a double skin of wrapper material automatically, while ensuring speed and precision.